by Claude Chendjou

PARIS (Reuters) – The main European stock markets, except London, ended lower on Wednesday amid fears of a trade war, while Wall Street was in the red at mid-session, affected by the decline in technology stocks after contrasting corporate results and macroeconomic indicators in the United States.

In Paris, the CAC 40 ended down 0.72% at 7,143.03 points, with the growing risk of a motion of censure against the government of Michel Barnier. The German Dax lost 0.18%. The British Footsie stood out with a gain of 0.20% thanks in particular to a solid increase in the real estate sector.

The EuroStoxx 50 index lost 0.61%, the FTSEurofirst 300 0.23% and the Stoxx 600 0.19%.

At the close in Europe, the Dow Jones fell by 0.04%, the Standard & Poor’s 500 by 0.42% and the Nasdaq by 0.96%.

The second estimate of US GDP for the third quarter showed growth of 2.8% annualized on Wednesday, while jobless claims in the country fell last week to 213,000, signs of an economy still strong despite monetary tightening in place.

The PCE inflation index in the United States increased slightly in October, by 2.3% year-on-year. If this indicator is in line with expectations, it remains above the 2% objective of the American Federal Reserve (Fed).

Minutes from the Fed’s November meeting, released Tuesday, showed that policymakers appeared divided on the extent of future policy rate cuts.

Traders, for their part, are worried about the consequences of the program of US President-elect Donald Trump, who wants to reduce taxes and raise customs duties, which could revive inflation, trigger a trade war and weigh on global growth.

Mega-caps like Nvidia (-3.14%) and Microsoft (-0.70%) are in the red, while the new technologies sector falls by 1.71% with doubts about the recovery of the PC market after the forecasts from HP (-12.66%) and Dell (-12.92%).

In Europe, the technology sector ended down 1.37%, in the wake of the Nasdaq, while the automobile sector (-0.37%) was once again affected by Donald’s announcements of customs surcharges. Trump.

In Paris, political uncertainty linked to a possible overthrow of Michel Barnier’s government weighed on banking stocks.

VALUES IN EUROPE

Teleperformance fell 2.06% after the group’s announcement of the purchase of ZP Better Together for $490 million, an initiative considered risky by some investors, according to RBC.

EasyJet (-0.40%) ended in the red after publishing an annual profit below expectations.

Grifols plunged 8.39% after information according to which the Canadian investment fund Brookfield plans to abandon its plan to buy the Spanish pharmaceutical group.

TODAY’S INDICATORS

German consumer morale is expected to fall more sharply than expected in December, to -23.3 points, with households worried about the impact of job cuts, according to the GfK and Nuremberg Institute index. for Market Decisions (NIM).

CHANGES

The US dollar fell 0.87% on Wednesday against a basket of six reference currencies after the day’s indicators. However, the greenback has gained around 30% since November 6, in the wake of the American presidential election.

The euro rebounded by 0.88%, to $1.0580, and the pound sterling by 0.90%, to $1.2678.

RATE

US Treasury yields fell on Wednesday as investors rushed into US government bonds following the release of consumer sentiment surveys in Europe, while US inflation fears were temporarily relegated in the background, the data being consistent with the estimates.

The US Treasury is also due to carry out an auction of $44 billion in seven-year bonds this Wednesday, after two- and five-year auctions that were particularly well received by the market this week.

The yield on ten-year Treasuries eroded by 5.6 basis points, to 4.2459%.

In Europe, the yield spread between French and German ten-year bonds rose to 90 basis points (bps) on Tuesday, the highest level in more than 12 years, before falling to around 85 bps in fence.

The National Rally (RN) has promised to censure Michel Barnier’s government if the Prime Minister’s finance bill (PLF) for 2025 reduces the purchasing power of the French.

The yield on the ten-year German Bund ended down 3.2 basis points, at 2.167%, while its French equivalent finished virtually unchanged, at 3.019%.

OIL

Oil prices are falling after the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah and the announcement of an unexpected increase in gasoline stocks in the United States:

Brent lost 0.19% to $72.67 per barrel and American light crude (West Texas Intermediate, WTI) 0.12% to $68.69.

(Written by Claude Chendjou, edited by Blandine Hénault)

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